10 Quotes to Inspire Better Sales Performance

They take 2 seconds to read, yet can inspire for a whole day. Many of the best sales people relate to quotes for motivational purposes. Here are 10 of our favorites:

1. Estee Lauder. "I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard."We love this one. If a product or service is worth selling – you should be giving it everything you have. If you don’t believe in what you are selling, sell something else!

2. Winston Churchill. "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."This reminds us how important resilience and persistence is in the sales process – the best sales people will keep going until they find a way through.

3. Stephen Covey. "Listen with the intent to understand, not the intent to reply."Was this aimed just at sales people? It very well could have been… Absolutely brilliant for reminding us that we have 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason. Listen better to sell more…

4. Bill Gates. "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."We don’t like bad feedback, but for the professional sales person bad feedback is a gift which can be turned into future profit.

5. Alexander Graham Bell. "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success."Natural sales talent is not enough. In sales, you come across many who try to ‘wing it’. However, these sales professionals will often be outperformed by those who have a plan – and stick to it.

6. Sir Alex Ferguson. "The work of a team should always embrace a great player but the great player must always work."Nothing worse than a sales prima donna. The best sales people, in the best teams, all share a very strong work ethic.

7. Zig Ziglar. "It’s easier to explain price once than to apologise for quality forever."Ensure that you have so much pride in yourself and in your service that you never, ever, sell on price.

8. Oprah Winfrey. "When I look into the future, it’s so bright it burns my eyes."The best sales people are brilliant natural optimists. This is combined with fantastic self-belief. Go get ‘em!

9. Ralph Waldo Emerson. "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day."Sales is full of highs and lows. Days when you feel like you can rule the world and days when you want to jump off a cliff. The best sales people take comfort from the fact they have tried their best… and come out fighting the next day.

10. Ghandi. "It is health that is the real wealth."Maintain perspective as you chase those deals. Health, family – we all know that’s what is really important – and one of the main reasons why most of us go to work in the first place.

So there you have it. Quotes can motivate us in all aspects of our sales jobs. Whether it is preparation, teamwork, customer focus or negotiating … there is a quote to inspire us to be better at just about everything.